PARAMARIBO – Entrepreneurs who own and run a business in the hinterland recently complained that they still haven’t noticed more police officers on the streets. They want the police to beef up surveillance in the hinterland so criminals would think twice before making a move.

“We work hard day and night. But out of the blue we are robbed of all our possessions and the raw gold that we have worked so hard to collect,” said the entrepreneurs who added that they want to know when the government will come up with a structural solution to the problem. “What would happen if the entrepreneurs suddenly decided to call it quits? said one of the entrepreneurs.

The entrepreneurs made it clear that they are willing to pitch in. “Many people find a job in the hinterland so if we were to stop working, many people would become unemployed,” said another entrepreneur. The entrepreneurs explained that many tourists flock to the hinterland but that this could change if the tourists no longer feel safe. They also want harsher sentences for robbers. The entrepreneurs there urged the government to give longer prison sentences to people who commit serious crimes. …[+]